One of the mildly endearing traits of a Midwest winter is the January thaw -- when the accumulation of several snowfalls momentarily reverses itself, teasing us with a head fake toward a still-distant spring. But as icy sidewalks begin to clear, what becomes of the items we've lost?
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No room for cream, please
What's in that glass? An examination of what we're getting, and not getting, with the standard conical pint glass.
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The year of the sycamore
Peace and procrastination under a prolific sycamore tree.
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It’s a Solidago party
Canada goldenrod, also known as Solidago canadensis, turns many a meadow a brilliant yellow in the month of September -- and for millions of beneficial insects, it's the biggest party of the year.
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Allie-Ann
If landscapers wrote children's books.
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What’s going to happen to this 1870 schoolhouse?
Trapped in an eddy of corporate indifference, an empty schoolhouse remains forever at arm's length, taunting us as an eerie echo of the past -- and as a beautiful dream that just won't pencil out.
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An ounce of prevention
“We must all be vaccinated,” Jean told Bill one morning. “What is being vaccinated?” asked Bill.
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Memoirs of a black raspberry
Available for only two weeks of the year, the wild black raspberry remains true to its natural form, closely identified with the locale and seasonality of its natural range -- as a brief but faithful fixture of a forager's Midwest summer.
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Would you buy a can of ripe green tomatoes?
The ordinary red tomato doesn't talk much about its colorful relatives -- the green, the orange, and the purplish varieties -- that could give it a run for its money. Conservative red tomato, it's time to get an agent!
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Lone tree goes to town
Previously we considered why a large, ancient tree might be found in the middle of a field, and the perspective it brings to us when it does. Now let's visit some urbanized field trees, and see what they can teach us about the passage of time.
